Bracket means for displaying globes, maps, and the like from wall rails



Jan. 13, 1959 w. SI'MILLER 2,867,918

BRACKET MEANS FOR DISPLAYING GLOBES, MAPS, AND

THE LIKE FROM WALL RAILS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1957 FIG.

' INVENTOR WILLIAM s. MlLLER ATTORNEYS Jan. 13, 1959 w. s. MlLLER 7 2,867,918

BRACKET MEANS FOR DISPLAYING GLOBES, MAPS, AND

THE LIKE FROM WALL RAILS Filed July 5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7

INVENTOR WILLIAM S. MILLER ATTORNEYS PatenteduJani 13, 1959 United States Patent *Ofitice William S. Miller, Evanston, Ill., assignor to Denoyer- Geppert Company, a corporation of Illinois Application July 5, 1957, Serial No. 670,063

7 Claims. (Cl. 35 -40) This invention relates to schoolroom display devices used to support globes, maps, charts and other teaching appliances from a wall or blackboard.

In the teaching of geography, history and other subjects, globes, maps and charts have been extensively used in the classroom, and they have been variously supported while in use. Globes have been supported either in cradles which rest on a desk or form a part of a floor stand or table; or they have been mounted at the tops of standards that rise from a weighted base adapted to rest on a desk or on the floor. It frequently happens that such supports are knocked over with resulting damage to the globes. Maps and charts have been supported for display either at the tops of standards rising from tripods o-r weighted fi=oor bases or they have been variously mounted on the classroom walls or on the mouldings at the tops of blackboards. Since the Meyer et a1. .Patent No. 1,758,292, May 13,1930, it has been quite common to mount metal display rails on the walls or above blackboards and to use various supporting fixtures slidably adjustable along the rail so that maps and charts of diiferent sizes might be displayed even when mounted in spring rollers. Such a display system is far more satisfactory than the old way of mutilating the wall or moulding with fastenings necessary for attaching various kinds of supports for the maps or charts. However the display rail system had no provision for, supporting a globe or a series of maps or charts bound together along their upper edges. Such .a series of related maps or charts have been fastened to a metal charthead which is supported at its centeron the top of the standard .of a tripod or heavy floor base so that by successively throwing the charts over the charthead, any of the various charts or maps can be displayed for classroom use.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved bracket or hanger for use on the display rail to support a globe spaced from the wall or blackboard in a position for classroom use, and with no liability of the globe being knocked to the floor and damaged.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an improved hanger which may be used in pairs to support a charthead spaced from the wall or blackboard so that the maps or charts of the set not desired to be displayed may be turned over the back of the bound series. Thus the set of maps or charts may be effectively supported for display without the use of a tripod stand or the like which is frequently tipped over by those using the set or by a janitor in cleaning the classroom. When that occurs the maps or charts go to the floor and some damage usually results.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel combinations and'a'rrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiments of the invention.

, the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing two of the brackets I or hangers supporting a charthead from a display along the top moulding of a blackboard;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale and with parts broken away, of the parts shown in Fig. 1,.th bracket being partly in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section taken approximately on line 33 in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the rear side of the chart clamping bar of the charthead;

Fig, 5 is a perspective view of one of the eye carrying end bars of the charthead;

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective of the upper end of one of the brackets or hangers;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 showing one of the brackets supporting a globe; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the parts shown in Fig. 7 on an enlarged scale and with parts broken away.

Referring more in detail to the drawings the numeral 10 denotes a classroom wall carrying a wood moulding strip 11. The latter may or may not extend along the top of a blackboard 12 suitably formed on or mounted on the wall.

The numeral 13 denotes a metal display rail which may be supported horizontally on the wall in spaced relation thereto but which is preferably carried by the moulding 11. The rail is of rectangular shape in cross section and may be of any length, such rails being usually composed of short sections suitably joined end to end. The fiat rail sections are attached to and spaced laterally from the moulding by stamping from them at longitudinally spaced points apertured bosses 14 to receive wood screws 15, as seen in Fig. 2. The heads of the screws are countersunk in the bosses and the latter space the rail from the moulding so that supporting devices, with hookshaped portions engaged With the upper .and lower edges of the rail, may be slidably adjusted along the latter. To permit such supporting devices to be readily applied to and removed from the rail, the latter has its lower'edge or flange formed with notches 16 at suitably spaced intervals as seen in Fig. 1.

The numeral 17 denotes as a whole a charthead carrying a plurality of flexible elements such as maps, charts or the like 18. Such chartheadsusually comprises outer and inner metal bars 19 and 20 betweenwhich the upper edges of the set of charts are clamped by bolts 21 with wing nuts 22, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 3. In the past such chartheads have been supported on the standards of tripods or heavy metal disklike bases by fixing to the center of the rear face of the inner or rear clamping bar 20, as shown in Fig. 4, a strip of metal forming a loop or eye 23 adapted to receive the reduced and shouldered upper end of the standard. It is to be understood that the chart elements 18 may contain maps, pictures, diagrams, statistics or other data used in teaching geography, history, biology, health, agriculture, mathematics. and other subjects. Such sets of maps or charts usually carry from .16 to 36 charts and the latter are quite large for classroom instruction. The length of the charthead may vary from about 36" to 64", and four of the .bolts 21 are usually used, two being on each side of they center eye 23 and passing through holes 24 in the rear bar.

In my improved charthead the front bar forms the wide front flange of an inverted channel metal strip, the rear flange 25 being narrow and connected to the front one by the flat top portion 26 over which the several charts may be thrown to expose the desired one for use. In order to support the charthead from the rail 13 by means of my new brackets, I provide-two end bars 27 and fasten them by means of the pairs of bolts,21. These end bars, as shown in Fig.5," are flat metal strips less than half the length of the charthead and they have openings 28 spaced apart to register with one of the pairs of openings 24 so that when they are disposed against the rear face of the end portions of the rear 1lamping bar 20, the bolt may be passed through the alined openings and the wing nuts will hold them. T he .outer .ends of the bars '27 :extend beyond the ends of .the charthead and .are bentto form eyes 29 adapted to receive upwardly projecting pins 30 on two brackets or hangers generally designated by the numeral 31.

Each of the brackets 31 has a straight upright portion 32 adapted .to hang by gravity from the rail 13 and a straight outwardly projecting lower portion 33, the two portions or arms being connected by a curved intermediate portion 34 so that the bracket is substantially L- shape in outline. Those :parts of the bracket are preferably formed from a single piece of channel metal, such as aluminum or steel, of U-shape in cross section, the two equal width flanges 35 projecting rearwardly or toward the wall at .the portion or arm 32 and downwardly along the portion or arm 33. To close the channel at the front-end of the bracket the flanges 33 are cut away and a part of the connecting portion is bent down as at 36 in Fig. 2. This lower front end of the bracket carries the cylindrical pin which has a shouldered and threaded lower end 37 in a hole near the end of the arm 33 and engaged by a nut 38 in the channel. When two of the brackets are used to support a charthead the lower arms 33 preferably extend at right angles to the upright portions 32 so that the charts, maps or similar elements hang perpendicular.

To permit the top of the upright arm 32 of the bracket to slide on the rail 13 and to be readily engaged with and detached from it, the upper ends of the flanges are cut away and notched as at 39 in Fig. 6 to form two upwardly extending lugs or projections 40, and vertically opposed 'to the latter, is a downwardly projecting lug 41 formed by the bent inner end of an inverted J-shaped metal plate 42 which closes the top of the channel and has a depending outer end 43 fastened upon the outer face of the arm by a rivet 44. The cutaway and notched portions 39 of'the flanges are of a size to slidably receive the rectangular rail 13 when the lug 41 is disposed in rear of the upper edge of the rail and the lugs 40 are at the rear of its lower edge. like projections and hold the bracket on the rail. Since the rail notches 16 are short and the flanges 35 are relatively widely spaced, the lugs 40 and the adjacent The lugs 41 and 40 form hookupper edge of the rail at a point opposite one of the notches 16. The bracket or hanger has an interlocking slidable engagement with the rail and may be readily applied to or removed from the display rail. While the upperlug or projection mightjbe integrally formed from the metal at the upper end of the arm 32, a much stronger structure is provided by the use of the steel strip 41, 42, 43 especially when the bracket is made of aluminum.

In order to steady the bracket and prevent strain on its slidable connection with the display rail, the upright arm 32 of the bracket is held perpendicular by the use 'ofa spacing projection or footpiece 48 on the rear side of the arm adapted to engage the wall or blackboard. This foot-like projection is preferably made of a body of' resilient material such as rubber to prevent marring of the blackboard. It spans the channel and is disposed against the edges of the flanges 35. It may be anchored on a tubular rivet 49 in the channel and having its end [upset at the front of the arm 32.

I Aswillbe understood on reference to Figs. 7 and 8, one offthe brackets, orhangers. may be used to support a globe 50 or any other teaching device or appliance that may be supported on .one of the pins 30.. When a geographical globe is to be displayed it is desirable that it be supported for rotation at its ecliptic angle of 23 /2", and that may be done by having the pin 30 project upwardly at that angle from the horizontal arm 33 of the bracket 31 of Fig. 2. However in Figs. 7 and 8 that is accomplished by changing the curvature of the intermediate portion 34 of the bracket. In those views the bracket 31 has its upper arm portion 32 perpendicular while its lower forwardly projecting arm 33 is inclined downwardly so that the pin 30 will be disposed at an angle of 23 /z. It is to be understood that terrestrial, celestial or other globes may be supported and that they will have axially disposed sockets to receive and rotate on the pin 30 or 30 The length of the two arms 32 and 33 will be such that globes of a 12" or 16" diameter may be supported for free rotation and will be disposed at a convenient distance from the floor. In all other respects the construction of the bracket 31 is the same as the bracket 31, and the same numerals have been used to designate corresponding parts.

It will be noted that the use of the invention enables a globe, a single map or chart or a set of charts to be conveniently mounted for display without the use of a table, desk or floor stand, and in a manner that not only saves floor space but makes it unlikely that the displayed article will be knocked to the floor and damaged.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the inventi0n,'and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations Within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim: I

l. A bracket for removably and adjustably supporting a teaching appliance from a flat display ra-il' horizontally arranged along a wall or blackboard, the rail having longitudinally spaced notches in its lower edge, said bracket comprising a single piece of channel metal of U-shape in cross section bent between its ends to provide an upright arm with the flanges projectingrearwardly from the web' portion and a lower forwardly projecting arm with the flanges projecting downwardly from the web portion, means at the top of said upright arm for detachable and slidable interlocking engagement of the bracket on a notched rail, said means comprising a pair of upwardly projecting lugs formed by cutting away and notching the flanges at the top of the upright arm to provide a transverse rail receiving channel, an inverted J-shaped plate closing the top of the channel in said metal piece, said plate having depending long and short portions, the long portion being fastened to the front of the web portion and the short portion forming a lug disposed in vertically spaced relation to said pair of lugs, the latter being adapted to pass through a notch in the display rail and coact with the lower edge of the latter after the lug formed by said short portion of the plate is hooked over the upper edge of the display rail, a wall-engaging foot piece projecting rearwardly from the lower portion of said upright arm, and an appliance supporting pin projecting upwardly from the web portion at the outer end of said forwardly projecting lower arm.

2. The bracket of claim 1 in which said pin is cylindrical and has its axis at an angle of 23 to rotatably support a geographical globe at its ecliptic angle.

3. As an article of manufacture, a device for removably suspending a geographical globe at its ecliptic angle from a horizontal display rail spaced from a wall and having a notched lower edge, said devicecomprising a generally L-shapedone-piece bracket having an upper arm for disposition in an upright position substantially parallel with a wall and also having a lower arm bent forwardly from the lowerend of said upper arm, a

cylindrical pivot pin extending upwardly and forwardly from the outer end of said lower arm and having its axis disposed at an angle of 23 /2, a wall-engaging foot piece projecting rearwardly from the lower portion of said upper arm, and means at the top of said upper arm for detachable and interlocking slidable engagement with a notched display rail, said means comprising a transverse rail-receiving channel formed in the rear portion of said upper arm, a downwardly projecting upper lug at the top of said channel to hook over the upper edge of the rail, and at least one upwardly projecting lower lug at the bottom of said channel and disposed in vertically opposed relation to said upper lug, said lower lug being adapted to pass through a notch in the rail after the upper lug is hooked over the rail and to slidably engage the rear of the rail to interlock the bracket and rail.

4. The combination with a wall and a notched display rail extending horizontally thereon of a generally L-shaped globe-supporting bracket having an upright upper arm and a lower arm extending forwardly from the lower end of the upper arm, means at the top of said upper arm slidably and detachably interlocking said bracket with said rail, a wall-engaging foot piece projecting rearwardly from the lower portion of said upper arm, a cylindrical pivot pin projecting upwardly from the outer end of said lower arm, and a globe rotatable on said pin.

5. The combination with a wall and a display rail extending horizontally thereon, of a rigid charthead bar, a plurality of flexible chart elements bound together along one edge on said bar, eyes carried by said bar and spaced from its ends, and means for horizontally supporting said charthead bar in spaced relation to the wall so that the chart elements may be swung over the bar, said means comprising a pair of laterally spaced upright brackets disposed adjacent the ends of said bar and each having an upper arm supported from said rail and a lower arm projecting forwardly from the lower end of the upper arm, and upwardly extending pins on said lower arms with which said eyes are engaged.

6. The combination of a wall, a display rail mounted horizontally thereon, a rigid charthead bar, a plurality of flexible chart elements bound together along one edge on said bar, eyes at the ends of said bar, and means for horizontally supporting said charthead bar in spaced relation to the wall so that the chart elements may be swung over the bar, said means comprising a pair of laterally spaced substantially L-shaped brackets disposed adjacent the ends of said bar and each having an upper upright arm substantially parallel with-the wall and a lower arm projecting forwardly from the lower end of the upper arm, means at the top of said upper arms slidably and detachably interlocking them with said rail, and upwardly extending pins on the outer ends of said lower arms with which the eyes on said bar are engaged.

7. The combination of claim 6 in which said charthead bar comprises two metal strips between which the bound edges of the chart elements are disposed, two end bars also disposed between said strips and having outer ends projecting beyond said strips and carrying said eyes, and removable fastenings passing said strips and said end bars to hold them assembled and to clamp said chart elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

